The collection of papers in this book is the result of a global project organised by Professors Junji Nakagawa and Colin B. Picker to explore what might be the consequences or potential responses if the World Trade Organization collapsed or became largely irrelevant—neither impossible to imagine given the relentless attacks on the institution in the recent years.

The project was premised on the view: (1) that the WTO and its commitment to a rule-of-law-form of multilateralism is worth saving, even if it is not perfect and even if it needs some substantial reform and (2) that the insights generated by exploring a post-WTO world, in both dystopian and utopian perspectives, would likely be helpful in trying to save the WTO from potential collapse or stagnation.

The project included a series of workshops held around the world, designed to ensure that a wide variety of perspectives could contribute to the project. As such, workshops were held at the University of Tokyo from 9 to 10 January 2019 (thanks to Professor Junji Nakagawa for hosting), at the Fletcher School, Tufts University on 26 July 2019 (thanks to Professor Joel Trachtman for hosting) and at King’s College London from 18 to 19 October 2019 (thanks to Dr. Holger Hestermeyer for hosting). Over fifty academics from around the world participated in the three workshops, though due to the time constraints to publish this book, most were unable to commit to providing their presentations as completed chapters. Nevertheless, it is expected those not appearing in this publication will appear in journals and other fora over the next few years.

The editors wish to express their gratitude to Ms. Agata Daszko for her assistance in the publishing process and to all others who have assiduously helped to realise this volume and hope that it will inspire further conversations around the future of the WTO.

Part I The Post-WTO: Introduction

An Introduction to Utopian and Dystopian Post-WTO Regimes
and Environments ......................................... 3
Junji Nakagawa and Colin B. Picker

Part II The Post-WTO: Macro and Theoretical Perspectives

To Dystopia and Beyond: The WTO in a Warming Megaregional
World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Bradly J. Condon

Narrowed Down Utopia: Adjusting the WTO to a Changing Trade
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Gabriel Gari

Waiting for Cordell Hull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Simon N. Lester

GAIA 2048—A ‘Glocal Agency in Anthropocene’: Cognitive and
Institutional Change as ‘Legal Science Fiction’ . . .  . . . . . 71
Rostam J. Neuwirth

If the WTO Were to Break Down Completely, Would We Stoop and
Build It Up with Worn-Out Tools? . . .. . . . . . . . . . 93
Brett G. Williams and Weihuan Zhou

Part III The Post-WTO: Dispute Settlement

The EU Approach to Overcome the WTO Dispute Settlement Vacuum:
Article 25 DSU Interim Appeal Arbitration as a Bridge Between
Renovation and Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 115
Elisa Baroncini

Like a Rolling Stone: Exploring Viable Options for the WTO Dispute
Settlement Mechanism to Evolve Forward in the Post-WTO Era . . 133
Tomohiko Kobayashi and Yuka Fukunaga

What Can We Learn from Our Struggling Cousin?: Recent
Discussions on Reform of International Investment Law and
Investment Dispute Settlement Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . 149
Jaemin Lee

Reaching for Utopia, Geneva as Inspiration for Investment
Disputes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Chin Leng Lim

A Possible Hierarchy of Dispute Settlement Systems? . . . . . . . 187
Engela C. Schlemmer

Part IV The Post-WTO: Specific International Economic Law Issues

The Concern with Non-concerns: For the End of Trade Dystopia  207
Leïla Choukroune

The Rise of Import Substitution Subsidies and Local Content
Requirements in a Dystopian WTO 2.0 Regime .  . . . . 221
James J. Nedumpara and Akshaya Venkataraman

A Development-Driven Post WTO World . . . . . . . . 241
Sonia E. Rolland and David M. Trubek

Saving the World Trade Order from the Bottom Up: A Role for
Preferential Trade Agreements . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Peter-Tobias Stoll

A New International Trade Framework for Digital Assets . . . . 277
Rolf H. Weber